Mancini dismisses talk of Tevez row

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has dismissed any tension between himself and Carlos Tevez after he substituted the Argentine.

Tevez came off in the 78th minute, having asked several times to be withdrawn and limping from the field after scoring a hat-trick in City's 5-0 win over Barnsley in their FA Cup quarter-final.

But despite a minor confrontation between the striker and his manager, Mancini was quick to say he was just tired.

The 29-year-old had a hand in all five goals, scoring the opener followed by another two either side of half-time, before setting up Aleksandar Kolarov and David Silva to cap off a match-winning display.

"We wanted this (performance from Tevez)," Mancini told ESPN.

"I'm very sorry for Edin (Dzeko) because in this game it is very important that both strikers score goals.

"Sometimes this is impossible, like today for Edin, but three goals for Carlos are good for him.

"Was he injured? No, no, no no. Nothing, nothing. I ask him if he had a problem in his muscle or his hamstring, he said no, he was only tired."

The Italian also hailed his side's performance, lauding their concentration against a Barnsley side he believed had nothing to lose.

"I was very pleased because after the game is easy, but before the game is never easy in football," Mancini said.

"For this reason it is important to have good concentration for these games. The other team have nothing to lose in these games.

"We scored very quick, three in the first half so after, it was finished. When you score three in the first half you need to continue to play serious."

Barnsley manager David Flitcroft was impressed by the quality of City and said Mancini's men deserved their victory.

"I've got a dressing room of players who are all in agreement we've come up against world stars," Flitcroft said.

"They came out in the second half and still wanted to put us to the sword. If they're the second best team in the country at the moment I would not like to have played Manchester United. Some of the football was incredible.

"They were just breathtaking, scintillating in the way they moved the ball."